


Witch Things

by bethecowboyy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Bisexual Lance, F/F, Gay Keith, Lance is an instagram model, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Rule 63, Slow Burn, The Galra are sort of a witch cult academy, Witch AU, i'll add tags as this goes on, well lesbian this time, wlw author
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-14
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26456731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethecowboyy/pseuds/bethecowboyy
Summary: Lana is an Instagram model and a college student just living her life. Katherine is a witch academy deserter now going to college. With Shiro's disappearance and Katherine's ever growing crush, it'll take the two of them and their friends to figure out how to find her.
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	1. A Wanderful Beginning

Katherine is in love with a stupid straight girl. 

It started out as most wlw crushes do- Not sure if you want to be her or if you want to be between her legs. 

Lana McClain wasn’t exactly a person that Katherine had known that well. She’d seen her in her astrophysics class a few times, but she’d also seen the other girl on Instagram. Partially because Lana is a model with twenty-eight thousand followers on Instagram and also because she comes up on her explore page. It was only natural to want to be her. 

That is until Katherine pulls Lana back before she can fall down the stairs. It’d been a reaction, something Katherine herself hadn’t even been expecting. Lana’s cheeks were red as she thanked her. And that was the very moment Katherine realized she was in love. 

Her crush on Lana is the only constant in her life right now outside of school. Otherwise it’s just constantly wondering where her sister is 

You see, Katherine used to go to a sort of…shady witch academy. Not really the best place, but it’d been cheap so why not. 

Maybe she should have thought harder before applying that logic. The scar on her neck certainly says so. 

She wasn’t exactly sure how they’d even tracked her down. She’d removed that stupid chip long ago, so how were they still finding her? How’d they even manage to get her sister? 

Maybe they’d used magic to age themselves, taken advantage of Shiro’s kindness. Made sure she was unsuspecting before they’d knocked her unconscious, taken her. 

It makes Katherine’s gut twist at the thought. 

Here’s another thing, Katherine never thought Lana would even notice her. I mean, Katherine was just some astrophysics major who doubled as a witch in her free time. There wasn’t really anything special about her. 

Yeah, that was until Lana had pulled her aside and specifically told her that she needed help taking some photos of her modeling some new clothes she got. Weird. Definitely weird. 

Of course, Katherine was too much of a useless lesbian to even think about saying no. 

Katherine walks to Lana’s apartment. The campus isn’t that big and Katherine doesn’t really own a bike. 

Well, she used to own a bike. Or, well, a motorcycle depending on what you call it. It’d been trashed by her former witch colleagues. 

Really they were just trying to destroy her life until she returned. Which she was never going to do willingly, of course. 

Seriously, she’d never return to that stupid academy. They’d been messing with dark magic. Weird magic. Shit she did not want to be involved in. 

They’d do anything to drag her back though. 

Katherine knocks on the door lightly, quietly. 

There’s a lot of shuffling, one hurled insult, and a soft swear before the door is pulled open. 

Lana McClain stands there in all her beauty, wearing just a light pink robe. “Pidge, seriously, stop leaving your keys at my place-” 

Lana’s eyes meet Katherine’s, a pair of keys in her hands. Yeah, she was definitely expecting Pidge and not Katherine. Not a surprise, but Katherine really wishes that Lana had been expecting her. 

The door slams shut on Katherine’s face which she’s honestly glad for. She had a crush on Lana, but she didn’t exactly want to invade her privacy. 

There’s a lot of shuffling on the end of the door before it’s opened again. 

Seeing her still makes Katherine’s brain short circuit because Lana’s just that beautiful all the time. 

Lana’s wearing a pink tank top with a light gray sweater thrown over it and a pair of high waisted jeans. Katherine’s pretty sure that most of Lana’s dresses she’s seen her wear on campus cost more than her college tuition, but her outfit looks more casual this time. Maybe this one just costs more than Shiro’s wedding ring. 

”Katherine! I’m so glad you could make it!” 

Katherine had nothing else going on honestly. She’d answered the text a little late because she was asleep, but maybe Lana thought she was busy. 

I mean, Katherine did go to bed at 8:30 at night so it made sense. Of course, she didn’t fall asleep at 8:30, but it was better to get to bed early so she didn’t have to deal with tossing and turning all night. 

”I really had nothing else going on,” Katherine murmurs, chuckling and scratching the back of her head. “I have to warn you though, I’m not really the best photographer. My sister used to say I was worse than most cryptid hunters.” 

Lana laughs. Lana laughs and it is the most beautiful sound in the world. It sounds like the very first time she went to go hear an orchestra with Shiro because she wanted her to come along and she’d spent the whole night with her eyes locked on the pretty viola player. 

Lana sort of reminds her of the pretty viola player. Long brown hair that reaches the middle of her back, tanned skin covered in freckles, the most perfect blue eyes. No, the viola player wasn’t Lana, they just looked strikingly similar. 

”Cryptid hunters, eh? As long as they don’t look as bad as the photo that Pidge tried to convince me was Bigfoot,” Lana snorts. 

”Pidge Gunderson?” 

”You know them?” 

Katherine knew them very well. They were Maddie Holt’s sibling and a friend of Shiro’s. Maddie and Samantha used to come over to their place all the time and talk about various tech stuff that Katherine didn’t really pay attention to. 

She knew that Pidge was a witch student, not at the academy that Katherine had gone to though. They went to Altea which Katherine was unfamiliar with. 

Katherine had gone to Galra. Altea had been too far away from Katherine’s house at the time and she didn’t want to leave Shiro. 

Her sister had been in a bad car accident a year before Katherine was supposed to decide on a school to go to. In the end she’d chosen Galra despite Altea being the better school. 

An indefinite mistake on her part. 

”Yeah, I know them, they’re a friend of my sister’s,” Katherine answers, scratching the back of her head. Pidge wasn’t exactly her friend, it felt a little weird if she ever were to refer to them as such. 

”They come by here all the time. I keep telling them they should just move in, but they told me they’d rather live with Maddie. C’mon, what does Maddie have that I don’t?” 

Lana pouts for a moment and it’s the cutest thing in the entire world. Katherine would have taken a picture if she could. But the moment is gone and suddenly Lana is tugging on Katherine’s hand and leading her into her bedroom. 

Lana’s room is a light purple color with multiple polaroids of her friends strung up on the wall. There are fairy lights on all four walls of the room with a desk pressed up to one wall and a bed pressed to the other wall. There’s a privacy screen next to Lana’s bed which must be so she can easily change outfits without Katherine seeing. There’s a bookshelf across from the bed that’s filled with books about space and botany which isn’t surprising considering Lana’s an astrophysics major and there are at least two cacti in this house that she’s seen so far. 

Lana collapses onto the bed with a little grin, slipping Katherine her phone. 

”Ready?” 

”Ready.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments are appreciated. If you want to come talk to me then my tumblr is urlocalwlw!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "She's gone," Pidge murmurs. "Gone, gone..."

Katherine wishes time could move slower. 

She’d been having fun with Lana this past hour. They were laughing and joking and Lana was beautiful. Katherine hadn’t even stopped to consider the amount of time and effort that went into these photoshoots whenever she would see them come up on her explore page. 

Lana’s currently wearing a peach pink dress that goes down to the floor, her hair flowing over her shoulders and down to her stomach. She looks like a princess. 

If Lana’s a princess then Katherine must be a jester. 

Princess Lana. Huh...it suits her. 

Lana does carry herself like a princess in a way. She walks with her back straight and head held high. It’s like no matter what anyone says it can’t affect her. 

Maybe Lana’s more like a queen in that respect. 

And maybe Katherine’s envious of that. 

Lana’s phone rings. Or maybe rings is less accurate. It’s more like Strawberry Blonde blasts from her phone at full volume. 

Lana sits up and brings the phone to her ear. 

The call is much too quiet for Katherine to hear but she can tell by the look on Lana’s face that it isn’t good. Her brows are furrowed, her lips brought into a frown. 

”I’ll see you soon, Pidge,” she murmurs softly. She sets her phone on her night stand and looks back over at Katherine. 

”Pidge’s sister is missing.” 

Katherine has known Maddie since they were young. Shiro and Maddie had dated on and off before they decided it would be better to just be friends. Maddie had been nice and kind and she always found herself enjoying the presence of her company. 

Maddie was also a witch, but she’d gone to the Galaxy Garrison’s Academy for Witches like Shiro. Maddie had encouraged Katherine to go there, but she just couldn’t. Not after what had happened to her sister. 

Plus, the Garrison is...shady. They have a history of cover ups and disappearances. 

(Katherine had even suspected that the Garrison was involved somehow in the car accident. She just couldn’t prove it.) 

So is it a surprise that Maddie is missing? Katherine wants to say no, but that sadly isn’t the truth. 

Pidge comes over soon. They’re a little shaken which is understandable. Their sister did just go missing. 

Katherine knows that feeling all too well. 

Lana wraps their arms around Pidge in a tight hug, leading them over to one of the ladderback chairs at the round kitchen table. Pidge sighs, taking off their glasses and rubbing their eyes. 

”She’s gone,” Pidge murmurs. “Gone, gone…” 

Lana’s clearly doing her best to not ask what happened. Her one leg is bouncing in anticipation and her right hand is tapping at the table. 

”Do you have any clue as to what happened?” Lana asks. “She might have just...run away?” 

”She’s a college student, Lana, she wouldn’t run away. Plus, there’s not really anywhere to run to except to mom...and that’s not really running away.” 

Katherine begs to differ. She ran away from Galra to Shiro. 

You don’t always have to be running away from someone. 

”Maybe college was getting too hard? She was a few months from graduating…” Lana suggests, her voice soft and quiet as if she spoke too loudly then she’d cause an avalanche. 

Pidge slams their hand on the table. 

”But that doesn’t make any sense! If she was a few months from graduating then she would have just waited until she graduated to run away! It doesn’t make any sense!” 

Pidge’s body collapses into Lana. It’s like they have no more energy to fight or even try to make sense of what happened. 

Katherine shifts from one foot to another before speaking up. 

”I think I know what might have happened to your sister.” 

Pidge looks up at Katherine, eyes widening. Huh, maybe they weren’t expecting to see her. 

”What happened to your neck, dude?” Pidge murmurs, reaching up to touch their own neck. 

Right, that. Why does Katherine keep forgetting about the scar on her neck? 

Katherine shrugs. She doesn’t need to get into the details right now. 

”That’s not important right now. I think I know what happened to your sister...and it’s probably the same thing that happened to mine.” 

Katherine had vaguely gone over what happened to Shiro, but the overall conclusion was that Shiro was missing and Katherine had no idea where she was or what was happening to her. 

Probably not the most comfortable thing for Pidge to hear. 

”I thought you said you had no idea what happened to her,” Pidge mumbles. They curl themself in towards Lana whose grip just tightens. 

”I have a hunch,” Katherine replies. 

”That’s not enough-” 

”It’s enough for now!” 

Katherine doesn’t mean to yell, but she’s so sick of the doubt that’s been making its way into her veins and wrapping itself around her heart. She’s sick of her hope going out the window. She’s sick of people telling her that Shiro’s gone for good. 

”I have a hunch and at this point it has to be enough. I think they might have Shiro at Galra...I think that’s where Maddie is too, alright?” 

Lana raises her hand. Katherine simply nods at her. 

”What’s...Galra? And do you mean Shiro? As in Takara Shirogane?” Lana asks. Right, Lana must not be in the loop about witch problems. 

”Galra is an academy for witches...I’m a witch. So is Pidge. And yes, as in Takara Shirogane, she’s my sister,” Katherine answers. Lana’s eyes widen before looking down at Pidge. 

”You never told me you were a witch!” 

Katherine scratches the back of her neck. She’d never told really anyone she was a witch except for close friends and family. She was no longer excited to be a witch. No longer proud. 

”That’s because humans technically aren’t supposed to know about magic. I mean, it’s not a big deal if some of them do, but it’s better if it’s kept in the family,” Pidge explains. They slowly look up at Lana whose eyes look as if they’re bugging out of her head. 

”So like Harry Potter?” 

”Don’t mention that transphobic little bitch to me.” 

Lana turns to Katherine, her eyes still wide. “So you’re a witch too? Like...you can do magic and everything?” 

”I haven’t tried to use magic since Shiro went missing...which was three or four months ago. It used to kind of be like a thrum throughout my whole body and now it’s just a fight or flight reaction,” Katherine explains, shrugging some as if it’s no big deal. It’s not a big deal to her. She got used to not having the feeling of magic around her constantly. 

”Oh, I’m sorry…but, uh, what’s Galra?” 

”Galra is a witch academy I used to go to. It’s less like a witch academy and more like a cult, but I guess they’re one in the same when you look at Galra covens.” 

Lana’s eyes are sparkling as she leans forward towards Katherine. 

”Well, I’d be willing to help you guys out,” she says, pulling Pidge closer to her. Katherine’s eyes widen, wanting to say no. Pidge beats her to it. 

”Lana, it’s dangerous, just let Katherine and I go,” Pidge pleads. “Please...I don’t want you getting hurt.” 

”I’m not fragile, Pidge,” Lana argues. Her grip on Pidge tightens, her brows furrow. 

”You’re not fragile, but you’re not a witch.” 

”I’m not a witch, but I am your friend. And I’m pretty good at archery last time I checked.” 

”Lana, the Galra are dangerous, I don’t need a friend getting hurt-” 

”I don’t need you getting hurt, Pidge! You’re my friend and I really don’t want Katherine to get hurt either.” 

Everything is silent for a moment before Pidge sighs. 

”Fine...but I think we need to get Honey too. I’ll call Alastor and Corinne up too.” 

”Who are Alastor and Corinne?” Katherine asks. She swears she's heard of them before, but she couldn’t remember where. 

Pidge grins. “They’re teachers at Altea. Lana has a huuuge crush on Alastor.” 

Katherine feels her heart shatter like someone just tipped a vanity mirror over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! If you want to come to talk to me then my tumblr is urlocalwlw!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ”I’ve seen Coraline one too many times,” she hears Lana mumble under her breath and she can’t help but laugh.

Honey’s very understanding as they explain the situation to her. Turns out her not-boyfriend is also a witch, but he goes to Balmera out of state. 

They take Honey’s 2007 Toyota Corolla to Altea. Honey drives, Pidge sits in the passenger seat, and Lana and Katherine sit in the backseat. 

Lana has her chin in her hand, gazing out the window. Katherine can tell she’s thinking about the whole infodump about witches she’d received earlier which isn’t a surprise. 

Anyone would be surprised if they found out pretty much all of their friends are witches. 

Katherine finds herself looking out the window, her hand set in the middle of the seats. The city has sort of always been beautiful with several tall buildings standing side by side with each other, skyscrapers lit up at night with people waiting to go home. Katherine finds it fascinating the work that humans do. 

Katherine doesn’t think she could ever do office work. That’s what everyone thinks, it’s just true for her situation right now. 

She’d much rather be in space. 

Katherine knows she must have fallen asleep because she’s back in her head, back to dreaming about...something. 

Katherine’s dreams have always been strange, but after Shiro’s disappearance they just got stranger. Sometimes they have Shiro in them. Sometimes they have her old Galra buddies in them. Sometimes it’s just Katherine alone. 

This time it’s Katherine and something. Well, someone rather. It’s someone tall and made of light leaning over chrysanthemums. 

They pick one up and turn to Katherine, slowly stepping forward and tucking it behind her ear. Their hand comes to Katherine’s jaw before placing their thumb on her lower lip. 

Katherine can feel her breath hitch as she leans towards the being of light. 

They move their hand to the back of Katherine’s neck, tangling their fingers in her thick black strands before pulling her closer. 

Their lips hover above Katherine’s before they speak. 

”Wake up.” 

Katherine’s eyes flutter open, met with a pair of sky blue irises inches from her own. She lets out a surprised noise, proceeding to smack her head against the window. 

”Lana! C’mon, I said wake her up, not give her a heart attack!” Honey scolds from the driver's seat. Yeah, a little warning might have been nice. 

”What a way to wake up,” Pidge teases, leaning over their chair to look at Katherine. They have a smug look on their face, but it’s clear there’s something else there. Some underlying determination. Some sadness. 

Katherine lifts her head from the window with a soft sigh. 

”C’mon, let’s get going before Lana gives me another head injury,” she mumbles. Lana gives an indignant squawk, glaring at Katherine. 

Altea is hidden by a magic barrier so people who aren’t witches can’t see it. It’s really just a way to protect witches since the city has other major foot traffic within it along with random kids who might travel up to the woods once in a while. 

Unlike Galra, Altea is a major city. It’s an hour from Galra and about forty-five minutes from the university that Katherine’s currently going to. 

People roam the streets, giving each other passing glances but never really looking at each other. It’s so much different from Galra considering Galra has much smaller buildings and more hole in the wall restaurants. 

Katherine hasn’t actually seen this many Subways since she visited Ryouka in California. 

The gates of the school seem to magically open for Pidge, stopping the rest of them. 

A voice booms from the lock. “You are not welcome here!” 

Katherine goes to object, but Lana speaks first. “Alastor, let me in.” 

”Lana?” the voice goes back to normal, a distinct British accent behind it. “Lana, go away, I’m trying to grade papers.” 

”Aww, it’s sweet that you think I came all the way out here to visit my favorite person in the entire world, but that’s not why I’m here.” 

”Then why are you here?” 

”Open up and you’ll find out, sweetheart.” 

There’s a sigh before the gates finally hiss open. The school is big and castle-like in appearance, a few bushes that have been cut to look like various mythical animals outside. 

It’s sort of like Hogwarts, but has respecting trans women vibes. 

A tall man with dark skin and shoulder length white hair greets them at the door. He has glowing pink marks on his cheeks, his brows set into a frown. A woman with long orange hair stands next to him. She has her hands on her hips, a bright grin on her face. 

Alastor frowns as Lana approaches him, brows furrowed. 

”Lana,” he mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest. He looks mildly annoyed right now. “Such a pleasure to see you again.” 

”Glad to be back in your presence,” Lana replies. It hasn’t transcended into flirting, but Katherine already feels jealousy coil in her gut. 

Jealousy is such a strange thing. It’s not even like Alastor is even reacting to Lana’s almost flirting and yet Katherine is already jealous. And she doesn’t like that. 

”We need your help,” Honey announces, stepping forward so Alastor’s gaze is no longer focused on Lana. The look on his face shifts to concern. “Pidge’s sister is missing and we don’t where she could have gone.” 

”Well, Katherine thinks she might know...and if she’s right then Maddie’s in a lot more trouble than we thought,” Pidge says. They’re shifting from foot to foot, slightly toeing at the ground with their left sneaker. 

”We think it’s the Galra,” Katherine explains. Altea has a history of rivalry with Galra. They’re always competing with pretty much everything. Sports, student population, student grades. It gets out of hand sometimes. 

(Katherine was once hit in the face with a volleyball during a game. Her team barely managed to drag her off before running back.) 

”Galra...that’s...that’s not good,” Alastor murmurs, motioning for them to follow. His walking is pretty fast paced, leaving the rest of them to do their best to catch up. I mean, except for Honey considering she’s 5’10. 

The halls of Altea are long and bright, students cheery as they pass through the halls. The doors to each classroom vary in size and shape, but most of them are arched. The walls are painted white with blue accents here and there. There are a few paintings, but most of them are of Alastor and a much taller woman. 

Katherine presumes the much taller woman is Alastor’s mom. She’s heard of her before, but never seen her. 

Alastor leads them to his office, not seeming to care that it’s small and definitely doesn’t hold all five of them. Katherine’s never been a huge fan of crowded spaces, so she steps out first. 

Lana and Corinne emerge from the office a few seconds later. Lana is pouting and grumbling as she brushes off her jeans and Corinne is just smiling. 

Lana grumbles for a bit before grabbing Katherine’s hand and dragging her away from the office. 

”W-Woah, where are you going?” Katherine asks. She can feel the way her heartbeat is pounding against her chest already, a mini drum beat that she desperately hopes that Lana can’t hear. 

”To go snoop around in classrooms,” Lana explains, causing Katherine to dig her heels into the ground. That’s not a good idea, not at all. Witches generally don’t like humans in their classrooms snooping around. 

”I...no, we shouldn’t do that, Lana,” Katherine murmurs softly. Lana looks back at her with a small smirk, quirking one of her brows. 

”What, scared?” 

The thing about Katherine is that she’s never backed down from a challenge. She’s never said no to anyone trying to best her at something, especially someone she has a crush on. 

(Yes, she is the type of person who teased her crush as a kid because she didn’t know how to deal with her feelings.) 

Lana drags them off to a classroom that’s clearly meant for potions. There are a bunch of cauldrons lined up along with various herbs of sorts. Katherine never took a potions class so she really just has no idea what’s going on. 

”It’s all so cool,” Lana murmurs, brushing her hands over the desk, but never touching the actual ingredients on the table. She’s looking at everything with fascination, her hands roaming over the desks. 

The room is painted a light green with various plants strung up along the wall. There are two desks across from each other in a row, twelve desks in all. All of the desks have a small cauldron on top of them with the various herbs needed set beside them. At the very front of the room there’s a chalkboard that has various lesson plans on it, a big cauldron in front of it. 

Katherine freezes as she hears voices outside of the classroom, clearly signaling the end of one class and into another. Lana gives her a panicked look before grabbing her wrist and dragging her into a small closet at the back of the class. 

The closet is a tight fit, Lana’s back pressed against one wall and her hands pressed to Katherine’s stomach. Katherine’s pressed to the other wall, her hands holding onto Lana’s forearms. 

Katherine does her best to keep her eyes on the floor. Lana is so beautiful and right there. She’s right there and holding onto Katherine and Katherine is holding onto her. 

Katherine’s heart feels like the fastest wooden roller coaster right now. 

”I’m sorry,” Lana murmurs, but Katherine just shakes her head. It’s not Lana’s fault that any of this happened. I mean, she wanted to go snooping, but Katherine’s the one who didn’t push back. 

She can hear the students buzzing as they talk to one another. Class probably doesn’t end for another hour or so. 

Katherine slowly lets go of Lana’s wrists, her hands making their way back to her sides. She’s nervous, so very nervous. 

Lana takes the opposite route. Her arms slowly encircle Katherine’s waist, putting her head on the other girl’s shoulder. Katherine freezes for a minute before she absolutely melts into the other girl. 

Katherine is touch starved. Absolutely touch starved. She hasn’t had an actual hug since before Shiro went missing. Shiro used to be the only one she trusted to hug her. 

But Lana is warm and she smells like vanilla and Katherine doesn’t want to let go. A stupid part of her lizard brain is screaming ‘safe’ and ‘warm’ and she can’t exactly argue with those two points. 

Lana slowly steps from side to side in a little rocking motion. It’s comforting and Katherine’s lizard brain has not stopped screaming. Usually Katherine wouldn’t want to get this close to Lana, but Lana is comforting and warm. Lana feels like home. 

Lana lets out a small noise of pain as her foot knocks into something, slowly looking down. Katherine follows her gaze to a small wooden door on the ground big enough for a person to fit through if they were crawling. 

They both look at each other in a silent moment of agreement. Lana toes the door open carefully, eyes widening at the little tunnel. 

”You can go first,” Lana murmurs, a nervous edge to her voice. Katherine raises a brow at her. “You know...because you’re short. It only makes sense.” 

Katherine can’t exactly argue with that. She slowly slips down to her knees, ducking her head inside the small door before crawling forward so Lana can get in too. 

”I’ve seen Coraline one too many times,” she hears Lana mumble under her breath and she can’t help but laugh. She’d actually liked Coraline as a kid. The effects were cool and so was the music. 

Katherine begins to crawl forward. It’s dark and it’s not exactly better than being trapped in a closet. She can almost hear Other Mother’s voice. 

She sees another small door, pushing it open. She really hopes she wasn’t transferred to another closet with a bunch of people with button eyes. That would be very cool, but also terrifying. 

It’s another closet, but fortunately it just looks neater. There’s nothing off about it as far as Katherine can tell. Lana emerges from behind her, pouting as she brushes off her jeans. 

”Let’s hope you don’t see any button eyes,” Katherine teases, her eyes flitting to meet Lana’s who glares. 

”If anyone in this next room has button eyes then I can and will blame you,” she replies, slowly reaching past her to open the door. 

They’re in the office again, standing behind Alastor. He’s in the middle of talking, Pidge looking up as they see Lana and Katherine emerge from the closet looking slightly disheveled. They raise a brow and Lana shoots them a glare. 

Alastor slowly glances behind him as he sees Pidge look around him, nearly jumping out of his skin when he’s met with Lana and Katherine. 

”What’s with your Coraline system?” Katherine asks, slowly crossing her arms over her chest. I mean, she thought it was cool but Lana might have been scared. Might have been, she wasn’t exactly too sure on what Lana really thought of the movie Coraline. 

”I don’t know what that is, but if you’re referring to our top notch secret tunnels then I’d be happy to inform you that they’re our best way of getting around! “ he informs them. “They were built after the Cold War since our headmaster at the time was sure that communists were going to come after wizards.” 

Katherine can’t help but snicker. 

”Anyhow, we’re coming up with a plan to get to Zarkon as soon as possible. Zarkon used to work with my mother...they were allies until Zarkon started messing with dark magic. She called it quintessence and claimed it would be the key to her eternal life,” Alastor explains, shaking his head. “There’s no telling what quintessence can do to a person, so we need to be careful.” 

Quintessence. That’s what it was called. That’s what the dark magic they were messing with was called. She can never remember. 

”But...since we’re kind of messing with dark magic stuff, we sort of asked our transfer student to help us,” he adds, motioning to the door. A girl emerges from the door almost as if on cue. She has tan skin and long white hair that goes down to her stomach. She’s wearing a black turtleneck with a light brown blazer thrown over it along with a pair of black jeans. 

Katherine’s jaw practically drops. 

”Lottie?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments are appreciated. If you want to come talk to me then my tumblr is urlocalwlw!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She feels her heart seize as she sees an all too familiar face in the window.  
> Haggar.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I don't know if this chapter needs a warning, but I thought I'd just give a heads up. For my She-Ra fans it's like that one episode where Shadow Weaver shows up in Mystacor.

Lottie. 

Katherine had known Lottie back at the Garrison. 

She was the definition of a perfect preppy girl and the bastard daughter of Zarkon. She was smart. Way too smart for her own good. She had a bit of an ego, but she wasn’t awful about it. 

Katherine’s just wondering what she’s doing at Altea, especially considering who her mother is. 

”Katherine?” 

Lottie seems just as surprised, slowly stepping forward. She looks over Katherine’s form with a scrutinizing gaze as if to decide whether or not Katherine’s really here. As if to decide whether or not someone could make it out of Galra alive. 

Lottie’s lips quirk into a smile. 

Katherine can feel everyone’s eyes on her. Well, passively considering they’re also looking at Lottie. 

Alastor coughs to get the attention back on him. 

”Yes, this is Lottie. She transferred here from Galra a month or so ago. She could help us find both Pidge’s and Katherine’s sisters,” he explains, clapping his hands together. “Well, it’s been a long day. You guys can go explore, I’ll have someone direct you to your rooms later.” 

Katherine stays in the office after everyone moves out. Lottie does too. 

She moves over to Alastor’s desk, hopping up so her legs are dangling off the edge. Well, somewhat. Lottie is super tall. 

”That scar on your neck is super nasty, dude,” Lottie mumbles, shaking her head. “You look like you scratched yourself over and over like a feral animal.” 

”Not exactly,” Katherine murmurs. “What the hell did you do with yours?” 

”Disabled it like a normal person, duh.” 

Katherine blinks for a moment. She...hadn’t even thought about doing that. She’d just wanted it gone as soon as possible. (She still had problems with the Galra so maybe it hadn’t worked as well.) 

”How’d you get away without your mom knowing?” Katherine asks, drumming her fingers against the desk lightly. Lottie lets out a laugh that’s something akin to a cackle. 

”Get away? Katherine, my mother never knew where I was in the first place. I may be her daughter, but the most I am to her is an heiress,” Lottie tells her. Katherine can’t help but flinch at that. 

Katherine knew that Zarkon hadn’t exactly liked her daughter. Lottie had been a mistake. Someone not worth paying attention to in her mother’s eyes. Lottie really never bothered to recount the details of her childhood for anyone. 

She didn’t need to since pretty much everyone had heard rumors. (Or started their own.) 

”Don’t take pity on me like I’m some wounded animal, Katherine,” Lottie says, rolling her eyes. “I really don’t care about what my mother has to say anymore. She’s not anything to me.” 

Lottie turns around with that, white hair nearly smacking Katherine in the face as she exits. 

Katherine takes her leave shortly after, combat boots clacking lightly against the tiles of the hall. Students still roam the halls, the school day not really over for some. 

Katherine sort of misses witch academy. She doesn’t miss living in constant fear, but she does miss doing magic. 

She ends up heading up the stairs, having lost track of time. It’s definitely dark out though. 

Altea has beautiful glass windows that line the walls, showing her a clear view of the gardens and the night sky. She stops for a minute on the stairwell since there’s no one behind her. 

She used to watch the stars all night when she was at Galra. They had an observatory where she could just lie down and gaze up at the sky. 

She feels her heart seize as she sees an all too familiar face in the window. 

Haggar. 

Haggar is Zarkon’s husband. Or ex-husband, it’s not really clear. He’s still Lottie’s father either way. 

”You thought you could escape us, Katherine?” his voice hisses. His voice sounds like someone smoked a pack of cigarettes for thirty years and then tried to do an imitation of someone who smoked a pack of cigarettes for thirty years. “You’re so foolish.” 

His hand reaches out through the glass, causing Katherine to take a step back. Haggar was a powerful witch. She guarantees he could get to her if he really wanted to. 

Katherine feels frozen and her hands shake. She clenches them in order to get them to stop, but it’s useless. 

”Just come back, Katherine...I don’t understand why you fight, it would simply be easier if you just came back. Then we wouldn’t have to do all of this, wouldn’t have to take your precious sister. You poor thing, don’t you want to do magic again?” 

Katherine wants to do magic. She wants to feel that thrum through her whole body again and coursing through her veins. But she wants nothing more than to see her sister again. 

She can feel her legs shake, practically stuck to the ground. She urges her legs to run, but she can barely move. 

His voice is echoing off the walls now. She can feel it in her chest like she’s standing in the middle of a crowded concert. 

”C’mon, Katherine,” he whispers. “Come back.” 

Katherine can feel her legs start to work again as she takes off down the hallway. 

”Katherine, c’mon,” his voice calls after her. The statement echoes off the walls and down the hall. “C’mon.” 

She’s running blindly now. She can still hear his voice and that stupid statement, but she just keeps running. She can see dorm numbers start to come up, telling herself it’s a good sign. Haggar can’t follow her where people are. 

She stops in front of one of the doors at the end of the hall, jiggling the handle. Fuck, fuck, it’s locked. She looks to her right, seeing an image of Haggar as he slowly starts to approach her. Fuck. 

She gives the handle another jiggle, feeling panic start to creep into her chest. 

Fuck it. 

She winds up, pulling her leg back before jamming it as hard as she can into the door. 

There’s an ugly noise as the door flies back, revealing a rather confused Lana and a sleepy looking Honey. Pidge is on the ground, looking confused as they see Katherine. 

Katherine knows how she must look. She’s breathing hard and she’s shaking badly, slowly looking up at Lana. 

”Katherine...are you okay?” Lana asks softly, reaching out to her. Katherine is quicker, her arms encircling Lana’s waist easily. Her grip is tight, fingers clenching the material of Lana’s pajama shirt tightly. 

”Hey, hey, it’s okay,” she murmurs, running her fingers through Katherine’s hair. “What’s wrong, Katherine, what happened?” 

Katherine slowly pulls away from Lana, her fingers clutching the front of Lana’s shirt. She looks up at Lana, meeting her gaze with a hard stare. 

”We have to attack the Galra tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for reading! Sorry this chapter was a little short. If you want to talk to me then my tumblr is urlocalwlw!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Absolutely not," Alastor says firmly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all! There is some violence in this chapter! Nothing too graphic, I just thought I'd let you guys know beforehand!

”Absolutely not,” Alastor says firmly. 

Katherine hadn’t told Lana what happened, but she’d been able to tell that Lana could tell she was freaked out and took her to Alastor. 

”We’re running out of time,” Katherine tells him, clenching her fists. “We can’t just sit around here and act like nothing’s happening!” 

”We’re not acting like nothing’s happening, we’re being safe!” 

Lana steps in between the two as if to ease some tension from the air. She’s blocking Katherine’s view of Alastor, leaving her to turn to Honey and Pidge. 

Pidge just lets out a sigh, scratching the back of their neck. 

”Look, I understand that you’re...stressed,” Pidge murmurs. Katherine’s fists clench harder, feeling her nails dig into her palms. “But Alastor’s right...I miss Maddie, I do. But we need to take precautions, dude. We’re dealing with the Galra.” 

”As if any of you know anything about the Galra! I actually went to school there, all of you are just going off of hearsay!” Katherine says, voice tight and teeth clenched. Pidge flinches, glaring at Katherine. 

”And look at how well you’re doing.” 

”What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!” 

Katherine steps forward, but Honey pushes her back gently. Her brows are furrowed, a sort of sad look in her eyes. Katherine just lets out a sigh, turning back towards Lana. 

”Look, I can tell we’re all...a little stressed right now,” Lana says. “But we can’t argue. Maybe Katherine has a point, maybe we are just waiting around until the Galra attack us.” 

Alastor shakes his head, placing his hands on his desk. “I know you guys don’t understand, but the Galra are dangerous and manipulative. You can’t just go in there without a plan.” 

”I understand,” Katherine argues, glaring at Alastor. “Look, I have a plan, but if you’re going to act like I don’t know what I’m talking about then I’ll just go by myself, understand?” 

Alastor pinches the bridge of his nose before he finally looks back up at Katherine. “What’s your plan?” 

\-- 

It’s been a long time since Katherine’s actually seen the Galra academy. Way too long. And she frankly doesn’t want to see it again. 

Unfortunately seeing her school again is part of her plan so she supposes she just has to get this over with. 

Galra is a big school that’s almost like a castle. It’s dark in color with purple highlights and a bridge that crosses over and connects to a huge wooden door. 

Dramatic. 

Katherine crosses the bridge quickly, her hands shoved into her pockets. Two Galran guards stand outside, some sort of weapon in their hands. 

They both glare as Katherine approaches, holding what seem to be spears to her neck. 

”Name,” the one on the left says. 

”Katherine Kogane.” 

The guards glance at each other before pulling their spears back. The one on the right grabs her arms and pins them behind her back. The one on the left opens the doors, revealing a long and dark hallway. 

Huh, Katherine didn’t know that Zarkon had everyone out looking for her. 

There are multiple paintings strung up on the wall that appear to be mostly of Zarkon or Haggar. No sign of Lottie anywhere in the paintings. 

They push her through large double doors before striding over a dark purple carpet and approaching a large throne. Katherine finally looks up. 

Zarkon. 

The two guards force Katherine onto her knees before stepping away from her. Zarkon taps the side of her face, looking rather bored. 

”Katherine...you thought you could escape me,” she speaks. “And yet here you are, running back like a scared little mouse.” 

Katherine averts her gaze. She really does not want to look at Zarkon, does not want to feel her gaze on her. 

”What do you have to say for yourself?” 

”I’d say that you’re right.” 

She doesn’t need to look at Zarkon to see the nasty smile that curls onto her lips. 

”Good. Then I expect you’ll be needing this again.” 

Katherine looks up, catching sight of the chip between Zarkon’s pointer and middle finger. Her breath hitches, digging her nails into her thighs. 

Zarkon approaches her. 

No, no, no. She can’t go back, not after all this time she spent running away. 

Where were they? 

Zarkon tilts her head up, tilting it to the side to get better access to her neck. No, no, no. 

She feels the chip touch the side of her neck when a powerful blast of magic forces Zarkon’s hand away. 

She looks up, slowly turning to see Alastor with his hand out. Pidge, Honey, and Lana stand beside him. Pidge has their fists ready, a powerful green magic swirling around them. Lana has a staff in her hand and Honey has her fists up. 

Zarkon tsks, shaking her hand out. 

”Alastor,” she says, quickly rising from her position near Katherine. “So, this was all a part of some sort of stupidly long plan. Very well then, if it’s a battle you want then it’s a battle you’ll get.” 

”We don’t want to fight you,” Alastor explains. “We just want Shiro and Maddie back.” 

Zarkon tsked. “Shiro...you can have her back as long as I get Kogane. I might need to keep Maddie a little longer.” 

”Zarkon, please. We don’t want to fight...do you remember my mother? Remember how you two worked together? It can be like that once more.” 

Zarkon’s ugly and cruel cackle echoes through the room. “Your mother was a pathetic weakling who couldn’t hold herself up in the battlefield.” 

Alastor snarls. “Let’s see if I fare any better.” 

”Guys, please,” Katherine begs, but her voice is shut down when Zarkon kicks her in the ribs. She doubles over in pain, a soft whimper leaving her. 

No, no, no, they can’t do this. They can’t fight Zarkon, they can’t- 

There are sounds of magic going back and forth as well as a few yells here and there. Katherine slowly manages to lift her head, watching as Zarkon lifts Alastor by the front of his shirt. Pidge is on the ground with Honey and Lana kneeling over them. 

”You’re just as much as a weakling,” Zarkon says harshly, throwing him onto the ground. His head hits the ground with a hard smack and his gaze goes unfocused. “Pathetic. Let’s finish this off then.” 

Lana slowly rises, holding the staff out with a glare. Her hands are shaking, but she looks like she’s doing her best to stay brave. Honey stands beside her, her fists shaking as she holds them out. 

Zarkon shoots a blast of purple magic that almost seems lavender between them. Lana lands on her side with a hard groan, Honey landing beside Pidge. No, no, no. 

Zarkon quickly turns to face Katherine, a small smirk on her face. “Finally. Now that they’re out of the way I can finally have you.” 

Katherine gets up on her knees, gripping the carpet underneath her. 

”No.” 

”Excuse me?” 

”I said no.” 

She can feel a powerful magic coursing through her, a thrum that she recognizes as magic. She slowly rises to her feet, one hand clutching her ribs and the other held out in front of her. 

She blacks out. 

\-- 

Lana lifts her head from the ground slowly with a groan. The force of the magic was enough to knock her on her ass. Seriously, she had no idea magic could be that powerful. 

She watches Katherine slowly rise from the ground, looking a little like she’s in pain. But...something’s off about her. Her eyes begin to glow red, the sound of electricity crackling as it seems to shoot off of her. 

Zarkon looks mildly surprised, but ultimately impressed. 

Katherine slowly stalks towards Zarkon, placing her hand on her shoulder. She looks pissed, her brows seeming to be permanently furrowed. 

A powerful, red blast of magic forces Zarkon back, slamming her into the large double doors. 

Zarkon slowly stands up, unaffected by the blast. Katherine growls and runs forward, but the same purple blast of magic knocks her back. And yet seems to have no effect on her either. 

She lands in a kneeling position, slowly rising once more. This time she grabs Zarkon’s neck and throws her back into the throne, using her magic to propel her. 

Lana slowly shakes Honey who lets out a low groan. They help each other stand, but Lana can feel her knees giving out again. Honey holds onto her, slowly picking up Pidge who doesn’t seem to be doing great. 

They’re out cold and are limp in Honey’s arms. She tears up, slowly feeling for a pulse before letting out a breath of relief and holding Pidge to her chest. 

Lana looks up once more, seeing Katherine race towards them. Her eyes are still glowing, electricity no longer shooting off of her in waves. It seems to have come to a simmer almost. She tosses Alastor over her shoulder, motioning for the rest of them to follow. 

Lana just shrugs before following slowly, doing her best not to look back. She doesn’t want to look back and just see Zarkon staring at her, gazing at her. Honey does her best to support Lana and carry Pidge at the same time, but it seems as if there aren’t any more guards in the hallway. 

Suspicious. 

Katherine makes it to the car that they parked in a ditch. Lottie’s at the wheel, slowly looking up at all of them as they climb in. 

Lottie starts to speak, but Katherine shoots her a look. 

”Just drive.” 

They make it back to the castle in one piece. Pidge is still unconscious and Alastor is semi-conscious. Lottie and Katherine help drag them to the medical bay by Alastor’s office. 

As soon as Lana sits down, Katherine’s eyes stop glowing and her form slumps, leaving Lottie there to catch her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, thanks for reading! Comments are appreciated and if you'd like to talk to me then my tumblr is urlocalwlw!


End file.
